Van Hool NV of Koningshooikt, Belgium, has set up a new subsidiary in the UK called Van Hool UK Ltd. Based in Wellingborough, it will undertake the import, distribution, sales and aftersales support of the company’s bus and coach products.

Mercedes-Benz AG of Stuttgart, Germany has announced the next generation eSprinter van is to be built, starting from the second half of 2023, at three of the company’s global locations in North Charleston, South Carolina, USA, and in Düsseldorf and Ludwigsfelde, Germany.

Spanish bus and coach bodybuilder, Industrial Carrocera Arbuciense SA of Arbucies, Gerona, has entered a new partnership agreement with Iveco Bus of Turin, Italy for the manufacture of a new range of low entry urban minibus to be marketed under the name Daily Access.

Quantron AG of Augsburg, Germany, a producer of electric commercial vehicles recently announced two weeks of successful trials of its Q-Econic electric refuse truck with the city of Ulm waste disposal company, EBU.

Volvo’s Class 8 VNL long haul heavy-duty tractor truck is celebrating over a quarter century of production at the company’s New River Valley plant in Virginia, USA, where it has been assembled since its launch in 1996.

A Volvo Group subsidiary, Volvo Autonomous Solutions based in Gothenburg, Sweden, has entered a strategic partnership with start-up software company, Aurora Innovations Inc of Mountain View, California, United States to develop jointly global autonomous transport solutions at scale.

Kögel Trailer GmbH of Burtenbach is introducing revised trailer designs to meet new European Union legislation on rear underrun guards, being introduced from September 1, 2021.

Irizar e-mobility of Aduna, Spain, starting September 2021 is to supply 44 electric ie buses to Burgas Bus in Burgas, Bulgaria. These are the first electric buses acquired by Burgas and, according to Irizar, its electro-mobility project is currently one of the largest in Bulgaria.

Bus builder, Blue Bird Corporation of Fort Valley, Georgia has voiced its support for the newly introduced 'Clean Commute for Kids Act of 2021.' The Act provides purchase assistance for electric school buses and is authorised to provide funding of up to USD2.5bn a year for districts, allowing affordable purchase of electric school buses. 

Electric bus producer, Ebusco Holding BV of Deurne has appointed Bob Fleuren to head its Production and Project Management departments. A specialist in lightweight composites technology, Fleuren gained experience from the aerospace industry via roles within the Dutch Royal Air Force and aircraft manufacturer Fokker, among others.

The BYD-ADL partnership for the British market is introducing additional electric bus charging options to improve operational flexibility. In addition to AC plug charging, all zero emission buses can now be specified with DC sockets, while double deck buses also have the option of roof-mounted connector rails for OppCharge pantographs.

The Peruvian market ended the first quarter of 2021 with the sale of 4,401 commercial vehicles, an increase of 42.1% compared with 3,098 units in the first three months of 2020. This was the best first quarter result in seven years, since 2014, when 5,382 units were sold.